I just have to accept I’m hopeless at discipline and basically kind of lie to myself anyway. Looking back, writing everything that passes my lips down on a spreadsheet is the only thing that really worked for me. I sometimes feel like I’m treating myself like a child but … it’s actually nice to total up the difference between in and out
I probably only need to drop 20Ibs or so but it will make a huge difference to my jogging/running, and I really want to get back into the local 5k parkruns.
Key thing: restrict sugar to around 14-18g a day max and exercise. Maybe a fitbit would help …
Anyway, that’s enough about me - anyone else had success counting calories?
I have had success losing weight and keeping it off with the help of a free app called MyFitnessPal. I started a thread about my weight loss a little over a year ago. I still use the app every day. In the earlier thread, I had lost about 26 pounds. My eventual weight loss was around 40 pounds, from 221 to 180. I have remained within 2 pounds of 180 for a year.
Whatever it takes, do it and don’t feel bad about it. Eating was never my issue; mine is exercise. Gym? Forget it; I’ll never go. So to reverse that 1-3 pounds a year older folks get sometimes I took a part time job in a warehouse. Call it a “job” and “work” and my motivation to show up is really high: that’s just the way I am. Same workout and at the end of the week they hand me a check. Do people tell me its silly? Yeah. But in two years I’m down over 80 pounds and in many ways a lot healthier. So the heck with it, I’m still doing it.
In case you didn’t want to read the OP of my thread, here’s the part about calorie counting with MyFitnessPal.
[QUOTE=Crotalus]
An app called myfitnesspal has been the key to this. I use it to track my calories throughout the day. Using some basic facts about me and my goal, it provided me with an intake goal each day. As I add info about what I have eaten, it shows how many calories I have left to eat that day. The app has a staggering amount of data on packaged and chain restaurant food in it. In three months, there has been only one instance of a packaged food product that I searched for and didn’t find. For things it can’t find, there are generic comparable items from which to choose. The usefulness of all of this already-existing data is that when I search the app for Pepperidge Farm Seedless Rye Bread or a Longhorn Renegade Sirloin 8 ounce or Heritage Farm Thick Sliced Bologna Made with Chicken, it finds it. Someone has already input all of the nutrition info from the label or the restaurant website, and I just click it to add it to my diary.
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I will add that the app also can use the camera on my phone to scan bar codes on packaged food to access the nutrition data, so for items with bar codes I don’t have to type in search terms.
FWIW, skipping meals helped me. I eat once a day. Evening meal. Rarely do I feel deprived or that I’ve missed out on anything during the day. I make sure it’s well balanced (proteins, grains, legumes, veg & fruit) and occasionally treat myself to something sweet for dessert. With the exception of said dessert, I avoid soft drinks and anything with added sugar.
I know fasting diets are the current fad but I’ve been doing this for 15 years so I’m hardly jumping on a new fad wagon. This way of eating (+ exercise) has allowed me to lose 90lbs in the first year or so and keep it off to the point where it’s a permanent lifestyle change.
One thing, while it does become habit quicker than you might think, there is not a day that goes by when I don’t feel hungry by the time mid afternoon rolls around. I’ve learned to enjoy the light feeling and being able to look forward to a guilt free dinner without worry about what I can or cannot eat.
I’ve had my best weight loss (and maintenance) success over the last few months with a pretty simple strategy – breakfast is small (two bean tacos for me) ,lunch is always salad or a non-cream-based soup, dinner is cut in half from what I used to eat (one easy way to do this is to restrict yourself to a side-plate instead of a dinner plate), and I snack on all the fruit I want. I break this rule maybe once ever two weeks or so and eat out or order in.
The fruit thing is key to not feeling so hungry for me. I’ve used watermelon as a particular prize, and I go through 1 or two large watermelons per week. I find it easy to eat a small dinner when I remind myself that I get a huge chunk of watermelon for dessert.
In about two months I lost 25 lbs, and I’ve kept it off for another 3 or 4 months. I’ll probably need another tweak to my diet to lose the last 20 lbs I want to get rid of.
I don’t count calories, I can’t figure out how that can even be accomplished with most meals.
I do weigh my portions, at least at lunch. I eat about 4-6oz of whatever it is that I’m having. Then I have some fruit, which I don’t bother weighing. At dinner I’ll have 12-20oz, that’s my biggest meal of the day.
I used to snack a lot between meals, and not healthy stuff. I gave that up completely a few years ago, and I think that made the biggest difference for me.
Counting calories worked for me, over 2 years I halved my weight and have kept myself in my personal zone since early 2011. I use a site similar to myfitnesspal but all Australian foods.
I find comfort in the maths but now I have a good idea of portions and what the correct calories for me feel like I only count when I veer too far in either direction. I have been tending towards weightloss of late so recently bought a fitbit to figure out why, turns out I am much more active currently than I thought. I spent a fortnight carefully matching my intake to the fitbit estimates and remained stable so it seems to read me well. Counting calories taught me how to get the best bang for my buck, lots of “diet” foods are completely unsatisfying and just not worth it to me. A small amount of dark chocolate beats any dessert put out by Weight Watchers. I have cheesecake for lunch now and then.
Along the way I fell in love with weight training, I suspect that helps a lot. I recommend it to everyone, great for mind and body as well as keeping the weight off.
I can relate to this; fwiw, I’m preparing almost all my meals and when not, eating small. I have just yesterday stated to weight stuff - rice, porridge, so far. That’s helping in that I know I have even more control.
Fruit I don’t worry about as long as it stays within the daily allowance of very specifically sugar - this is something not yet generally understood as being vital.
Totally agree on snacking - I almost lied to myself in choosing toforget snacks. Can’t do that with calorie counting
I kind of have but then I’ve tried all the fad and fashion stuff over the years. That’s not to say that if it works for you then brilliant - those things just haven’t worked for me ad I suspect that’s because I always thought in terms of being on a diet’ (which would end at some point) rather than changing my life. I’m trying to not treat weight loss as ‘a journey’ this time.
This is all great. I also find comfort in the maths and, to that end, am also leaning towards a fitbit … weight training not so much (cycling, jogging and swimming for me)
I’ve been losing baby weight, and having a lot of success with a lot of waking (I walk during my commute, and average around six miles a day) and a simple eating plan-- yogurt or other ~150 calorie breakfast, a Lean Cuisine for lunch, a ~150 calorie snack and a not-overly-delicious dinner from the crock pot that usually involves chicken, veggies and rice.
Not only is the weight melting off, but we are saving a ton of money on food.
I have a fitness tracker, but not sure how many calories I’m burning. An app claims I am burning 2000 daily, with 600 being from activity, but I’m not see how accurate that is.
I’ve been losing about a pound a week, with ups and downs, for the last 15 weeks. I have about 10 lbs left to go.
Also worth noting I don’t stick to the plan religiously- my weekends are pretty much a free-for-all and I have a couple slices of pizza at least once a week.
Occasional high-calorie, or “cheat” meals can actually aide in weight loss in more than one way. For one, it helps keep you mentally energized and not feeling deprived. For another, they help keep your metabolism from dropping too low, which helps you to continue to burn calories.
You might be able to get by with a less onerous method. Some people find simply keeping food journals of what they’ve eaten during the day is enough. It still forces you to be mindful of what you are eating. It’s still a record that gives a sense of how much is going in your mouth across time. It’s not as difficult as making sure to carefully measure everything and trying to accurately determine calories for every item.
